Wellness Initiative
The Jackson County School System’s Board of Education has a Wellness Policy that guides our Wellness Procedures, which are listed below.
Wellness Health Safety & Security Advisory Committee
The Jackson County School System will maintain a Wellness Health Safety & Security Advisory Committee to help plan, update, implement, promote and monitor the wellness policy as well as to address other health, safety, and security concerns within the school system. Functions of the committee will include:
- Serve as an advisory group regarding student well-being issues
- Work in conjunction with the school system’s efforts to promote student and employee health and wellness in compliance with state and federal requirements
- Examine related research and laws, assess student needs and the current school environment, review existing board policies and administrative regulations
- Collaborate with appropriate community agencies and organizations, and help raise awareness about student health issues
- Make policy recommendations to the board related to this policy and other policies concerning student wellness and safety and shall periodically review and suggest revisions to this policy
- Assist in the development of a plan for measuring and assessing the implementation of the wellness policy
- Developing methods to inform and update the public about the content and implementation of the wellness policy
Nutrition Guidelines for School Meals
Meals served through the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs will:
- Follow the USDA Healthy Hunger Free-Kids (HHFKA) regulations
- Be appealing and attractive to children while being served in clean and pleasant settings
- Meet, at a minimum, nutrition requirements established by local, state, and federal statutes and regulations
- Encourage the consumption of foods as recommended by the HHFKA which encourages increased consumption of a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grain, and low fat/fat-free dairy products
- Plan menus to accommodate the seasonality of local agriculture according to the availability of produce from local farmers and school gardens
- Provide breakfast and lunch meals in accordance with the District’s approved free and reduced-priced meal agreement in compliance with local, state, and federal guidelines
- Make available guidance to parents and families on foods that provide consistent nutrition messages and as needed for special diets
- Ensure snack foods and beverages sold to children at school during the school day are USDA Smart Snacks compliant
- Encourage standards that allow schools to offer healthier snack foods to children and ensure that students are only offered tasty and nutritious foods for al carte sales
Nutrition Education
The District shall teach, encourage, and support healthy eating by students. Schools shall provide nutrition education consistent with federal and state requirements and engage in nutrition promotion aimed at attending following goals:
- The nutrition education program shall be interactive and meet state standards and Jackson County School District’s curriculum guidelines
- Emphasize the skills students need to adopt healthy eating habits
- Provide students with consistent nutrition messages throughout the school, classroom, cafeteria, community, and media
- Schools shall conduct nutrition education activities and promotions that involve parents, students, and the community
- School menus are followed and analyzed using USDA-approved software and cafeteria lines are arranged to promote increased selections of healthy foods and identification of healthy choices
- Teachers will be encouraged to incorporate the school garden as part of the curriculum to enrich students learning opportunities by presenting academic projects around food, nutrition, mathematics, science, language arts, and the environment
- Promote fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, low-fat and fat-free dairy products, healthy food preparation methods, and healthy–enhancing nutrition practices
- Promote Farm to School initiatives and support nutrition education
Physical Activity Opportunities and Physical Education
All students in grades K-12 shall have opportunities, support, and encouragement to be physically active regularly. The District shall provide:
- Physical education consistent with federal and state requirements
- Physical education will be taught by a certified physical education teacher
- Standards-based program designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote and protect their health
- Integration of physical activity into the classroom to support student achievement
- Promotion of physical activities
- Physical education resources readily available for students and teachers
- Encourages physical activity outside the school day (before and after school day)
- Teachers and other adults in the school setting who serve as role models for students by participating in wellness programs
- Recreational facilities that are safe, clean, and accessible for all students
- Opportunities for physical activity that are not withheld as punishment
- Encouragement to provide recess in PK-5 before lunch
- The school district shall not be held liable for personal injury that may be incurred while using district properties.
Employee Wellness
Jackson County Schools ensures all certified and classified employees averaging over thirty hours per week have access to health insurance with provisions that have the potential to:
- To promote healthy behaviors
- Improve employees’ health knowledge and skills
- Help employees get necessary health screenings, immunizations, and follow-up care
Other School-Based Activities
In addition to the standards discussed above, the system adopts the following goals for school-based activities designed to promote wellness:
- Schools will provide a clean and safe meal environment.
- Students will be provided adequate time to eat meals.
- Drinking water will be available at all meal periods and throughout the school day.
- School fundraising shall be encouraged to offer healthy food choices or non-food sale items.
- To the extent possible, the school system will utilize available funding and outside programs to enhance student wellness.
- Food will not be used in the schools as a reward or punishment. Schools should encourage the use of non-food alternatives.
- Schools shall discourage students from sharing or trading their foods or beverages with others, given concerns about viruses, allergies, and restrictions on some children’s diets.
- Only foods and beverages meeting district nutrient standards or Smart Snacks compliant are sold in vending machines throughout school campuses. The sale of foods of minimum nutritional value is banned.
The Smart Snacks nutrition standards apply to all foods sold to students on the school campus during the school day, including food prepared and/or sold by culinary education programs. The sale of non-school nutrition program foods is prohibited during breakfast and lunch meal service periods. Foods served in the classroom are not to replace the student’s lunch meal. To support the district wellness program and to maintain a healthful environment, “fast foods” from commercial establishments shall not be permitted to be delivered or otherwise provided to students during school hours. Jackson County will advertise or market only those foods and beverages that meet the Smart Snack standards and nutrition guidelines.
As appropriate, the goals of the wellness policy will be considered in planning all school-based activities.
Administrators, teachers, school nutrition personnel, students, parents or guardians, and community members will be encouraged to serve as positive role models to promote student wellness.
Qualified nutrition personnel will manage and administer the School Nutrition Program. Professional development will be provided for school system nutrition staff in compliance with USDA Professional Standards for All School Nutrition Programs. Staff development programs should include appropriate certification and/or training programs for District School Nutrition Director, managers, and school nutrition assistants according to their level of responsibility.
Policy Compliance
Implementation and Monitoring
The superintendent or designee will ensure compliance and implementation with the wellness policy throughout the district. School principals shall be responsible for communicating the contents of the policy as well as implementing the policy in their respective schools.
Principals shall report on their compliance as directed by the superintendent.
The School Nutrition Director for Jackson County Schools shall be responsible for the nutritional component of the policy and shall be the functional expert in school nutrition matters, ensure compliance with nutrition staff and oversee the daily operation of the District’s School Nutrition Program.
Policy Review
Assessments will be repeated every three to five years to review policy compliance, assess progress, and determine areas in need of improvement. As a part of that review, the district will review our nutrition and physical activity policies; provision of an environment that supports healthy eating and physical activity; nutrition and physical education policies, and program elements. The district, and individual schools within the district, will, as necessary, revise the wellness policies and develop work plans to facilitate the implementation.
Last Revised – February 2021
Jackson County School Triennial Assessment 2021
Wellness Committee Agenda: April 2021